Antarctica - Geography and Maps

Located in Earth’s southern hemisphere around the South Pole is Antarctica, the world’s southernmost, coldest, windiest and most remote continent. The world ocean (an interconnected system of the earth’s oceanic waters) surrounds Antarctica. The continent’s nearest neighbours are Chile and Argentina in South America and New Zealand.

The fifth largest continent stretching over an area of 13.7 million kilometres, approximately 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet. This ice sheet which reflects sunlight instead of absorbing it leaves Antarctica without moisture making it very dry. As such, Antarctica is technically a desert and is drier than the Sahara.

Due to the inhospitable conditions of Antarctica, there are no permanent human populations and the continent has no indigenous populations. Instead, there are small numbers of research personnel at stations representing various countries. These conditions that prevent human habitation have also ensured that there is little in the way of nature and wildlife and instead it is the waters of the Southern Ocean that host species like penguins, seals and whales.

Geographically, the region is divided into two parts, Eastern Antarctica and Western Antarctica. Eastern Antarctica represents two-thirds of the continent and includes a number of high mountains. Western Antarctica lies within the Western hemisphere and includes the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica Information

At Goway we believe that a well-informed traveller is a safer traveller. With this in mind, we have compiled an easy to navigate travel information section dedicated to Antarctica.